APPENDIX C:

State of Washington

List of Approved Programs

Draft Summary of the Work of

The Washington Reads Expert Review Panel

Expert Panel Task:

The Washington Reads Expert Panel had the task of evaluating reading materials not for general adoption in all schools but for use by the at-risk populations targeted by the federal Reading Excellence Act which includes districts with schools in Title I School Improvement status due to a 2 year track record of insufficient progress and/or schools with populations in extreme poverty.

Instrument used by the Expert Panel:

The instrument used to evaluate programs was the Consumer’s Guide to Evaluating a Core Reading Program by Dr. Deborah Simmons and Dr. Ed Kame’enui of University of Oregon. It was cross-referenced to the National Reading Panel findings of 4/13/2000 for this task. Special importance was given to the clear modeling, explicit instruction and additional practice needed by the unique school populations to be served by the Washington Reads grant.

Process Used by the Expert Panel:

  1. Many excellent programs were reviewed. To be reviewed, materials appeared on a national recommended list or were personally recommended by members of the Expert Panel.
  2. All of the materials applied research findings to some extent. Only those which most consistently met the criteria from the Consumer’s Guide to Evaluating a Core Reading Program, the National Reading Panel findings and the needs of the special population, were placed on the Washington Reads Menu.
  3. The materials appearing on Washington Reads Menu evidenced a clear difference in the degree and consistency with which they met the panel’s unique criteria when compared to the materials not placed on the menu.

Purpose of the Washington Reads Menu of Materials:

The Washington Reads Menu is not intended as a menu for all schools nor was it intended to be a complete evaluation of all reading curriculum material for all learners.

Composition of the Expert Panel:

Panel members represent various areas of expertise; OSPI program managers, ESD staff, elementary principals, district curriculum directors, elementary reading specialists from low income schools that increased dramatically in reading achievement, state reading specialists, Title I and Special Education teachers, private and public university reading or curriculum professors, and bilingual specialists.

Draft Menu of Core Reading Programs

Washington Reads Expert Panel

January 11, 2001

The Washington Reads Expert Panel had the task of evaluating reading materials not for general adoption in all schools but for use by the at-risk populations targeted by the federal Reading Excellence Act which includes districts with schools in Title I School Improvement status due to a 2 year track record of insufficient progress and/or schools with populations in extreme poverty. The Washington Reads Menu is not intended as a menu for all schools nor was it intended to be a complete evaluation of all reading curriculum material for all learners. New materials may have become available since this list was created that have not been evaluated.

All the following program packages are approved for purchase with Washington Reads Grant money. The order in which they are listed is not intended to give preference to any program.

A. Success for All K-3 (With no additions)

  • Note: Success for All requires a basal adoption to be used in conjunction with their “Treasure Hunts” at Grade 2 and above. The basals which Washington Reads schools will use to accompany Success for All in Grades 2 and 3 are Collections by Harcourt School Publishers and Open Court Reading.

B. Reading Mastery K-3 (With these additions:)

  • K needs additional verbal comprehension strategies taught with authentic literature
  • Grade 1 needs extended written response work, and additional work on comprehension strategies such as predicting, summarizing, clarifying, questioning, graphic organizers
  • Grades 2 and 3 needs additional work on the comprehension strategies of predicting, summarizing, clarifying, questioning, use of graphic organizers and additional extended written response work

C. Open Court /Saxon Phonics Combination K-3 (With these additions:)

  • K - With added phonics and phonemic awareness practice using Saxon Companion Guide which integrates the two programs
  • Grade 1 - Using Saxon Companion Guide which:
  • integrates the two programs
  • uses the Saxon method of teaching sounds in the Saxon order and the Saxon wall cards in place of the Preparing to Read section in Open Court and in place of the Open Court Sound Spelling Cards
  • uses all the Open Court Decodable readers
  • uses the Open Court Reading and Responding activities
  • uses the Saxon assessments and reteaching plan when assessments are not passed
  • Grade 2-3 Open Court (With no additions)

D.Open Court K-3 (With additional phonemic awareness and phonics practice when needed in K and Grade 1 and additional assessment in Grade 1:)

  • K- Extra phonics practice may be needed for the most at-risk learners. When a sound is taught and students need more practice use Companion Reading or Wright Skills materials to supplement the Open Court lesson
  • Grade 1 - When additional phonics practice and practice in decodable text are needed, use Companion Reading or Wright Skills materials.
  • Grade 1 - Use Open Court assessments after every 2-3 new sounds to show degree of mastery of cumulative sounds, mastery of blending with sounds taught to date, and mastery of cumulative sight words. (These are being created by Open Court and will ready for September 2001.)
  • Grade 2-3 – Open Court (With no additions)

E. Read Well/Write Well /Open Court Combination

  • K - Introduce the alphabet (approximately 2 sounds a week) in Read Well order leading into Read Well/Write Well as the core program no later than January
  • K - Must add additional phonemic awareness in segmenting and blending using Ladders to Literacy, Phonemic Awareness in Young Children, or Phonological Awareness Training for Reading
  • Grade 1 - Read Well/Write Well (With no additions)

(Note: When Read Well is finished with appropriate fluency, students move into Grade 2 Open Court)

  • Grade 2-3 - Open Court (With no additions)

F. Read Well/Write Well/Harcourt Combination

  • K - Introduce the alphabet (approximately 2 sounds a week) in Read Well order leading into Read Well/Write Well as the core program no later than January

K - Must add additional phonemic awareness in segmenting and blending using Ladders to Literacy, Phonemic Awareness in Young Children, or Phonological Awareness Training for Reading

  • Grade 1 - Read Well/Write Well (With no additions)

(Note: When Read Well is finished with appropriate fluency, students move into Grade 2 Harcourt.)

  • Grade 2-3 - Harcourt (With no additions)

G. Harcourt /Saxon Phonics Combination K-3 (With these additions:)

  • K - With added phonics and phonemic awareness practice using Saxon Companion Guide which integrates the two programs
  • Grade 1 - Using Saxon Companion Guide which:
  • integrates the two programs
  • uses the Saxon method of teaching sounds in the Saxon order in place of the Phonics section (Red bar at top of TE page) in Harcourt and using the Saxon wall cards
  • uses all the Harcourt Phonics Practice Readers and the Student Editions
  • uses the Harcourt Vocabulary, Word Wall, Reading in the Student Edition with Comprehension Monitoring, and Wrap Up activities
  • uses the Saxon assessments and reteaching plan when assessments are not passed
  • Grade 2-3 Harcourt (With no additions)

H. Harcourt K-3 (With additional phonemic awareness and phonics practice when needed in K and Grade 1 and additional assessment in Grade 1)

  • K - With extra phonics practice using Companion Reading or Wright Skills

(With these two programs each school must design their own sequence to integrate the extra phonics practice into Harcourt.)

  • Grade 1 - With additional phonics practice and practice reading words and text after each sound is introduced using Companion Reading or Wright Skills

(With these two programs each school must design their own sequence to integrate the extra phonics practice into Harcourt.)

  • Grade 1 - With assessments after every 2-3 new sounds to show degree of mastery of cumulative sounds, mastery of blending with sounds taught to date, and mastery of cumulative sight words (These assessments will be available by September of 2001.)
  • Grade 2-3 - Harcourt (With no additions)

Draft Menu of Supplemental Reading Programs

Washington Reads Expert Panel

January 11, 2001

The Washington Reads Expert Panel had the task of evaluating reading materials not for general adoption in all schools but for use by the at-risk populations targeted by the federal Reading Excellence Act which includes districts with schools in Title I School Improvement status due to a 2 year track record of insufficient progress and/or schools with populations in extreme poverty. The Washington Reads Menu is not intended as a menu for all schools nor was it intended to be a complete evaluation of all reading curriculum material for all learners.

All the following supplemental programs are approved for purchase with Washington Reads Grant money. The order in which they are listed is not intended to give preference to any program.

Supplemental Phonics:

  • Companion Reading by Metra
  • Wright Skills
  • Saxon Phonics

Supplemental Fluency:

  • Read Naturally
  • Basic Skill Builders

Supplemental Independent Reading Motivational Systems:

  • Accelerated Reader

Supplemental Phonemic Awareness: (Note: Targeting the phonemic awareness skills of segmenting and blending produce the greatest transfer to other reading according to the National Reading Panel Report.)

  • Phonemic Awareness in Young Children by Adams et al. 1998
  • Ladders to Literacy by O’Connor et al. 1998
  • Phonological Training for Reading by Torgeson and Bryant 1994
  • Fast ForWord (Computer program)
  • Earobics (Computer Program)

Supplemental Tutoring:

  • Sound Partners
  • HOSTS
  • PALS
  • Reading Recovery
  • Sensational Strategies for Teaching Beginning Reading by Orton-Gillingham

Supplemental Training for Staff:

  • C.O.R.E.
  • Lindamood Phonemic Sequencing (Phonemic Awareness)

Supplemental Computer Programs:

  • Academy of Reading

Supplemental Language (Spoken English):

  • Language into Learning

Supplemental Comprehension Strategies:

Junior Great Books

Washington Reads (Reading Excellence Act) Expert Panel

Draft of Approved Practices and Materials

For Teaching Reading in Spanish

February 8, 2001

Background: The Expert Panel used the best available information at the time to create this list of approved practices and materials. The panel applied the National Reading Panel (3/21/00) findings that effective phonemic awareness strategies applied to “other alphabetic languages.” In other areas of Spanish reading, a relatively limited quantity of research on reading program and strategy effectiveness was available at the time of the review. Therefore, the panel considered available research and applied the National Reading panel findings for the teaching of English decoding, fluency/passage reading, vocabulary and comprehension to the teaching of Spanish reading as well. Currently, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) is commissioned to research the “Development of English Literacy in Spanish Speaking Children” and report their findings which were not finished at the time the panel wrote this draft. Once the findings of that report are published, the panel suggests that educators review the findings and consider their implications for implementation.

Approved Practices and Materials for Teaching Reading in Spanish:

Background:Reading and Second Language Learners, a research report published by OSPI, states that “programs that provide English Language Learners (ELL) with long-term first-language instructional support…have been shown to succeed in producing long-term ELL achievement in English reading and other academic areas that reaches parity with that of native-English speakers, while programs with little or no first-language support…do not.”

  1. When students’ oral language development in Spanish (L1*) is limited, it is critical to develop their oral language proficiency in Spanish (L1) at the same time new reading skills in Spanish are acquired (L1). Materials to teach Spanish oral language:
  • The oral language components of McGraw-Hill’s Lectura
  • The oral language components of Scott-Foresman’s Lectura
  • Spanish read alouds with rich listening comprehension activities
  1. Students receiving Spanish reading instruction must be simultaneously taught English oral development that will assist in the transition to English reading. To transition students from Spanish reading to English reading, students must:
  • Receive intensive English oral language development before they start English reading.
  • Continue to receive intensive English oral language development while they are learning to read English.
  • Be taught the specific skills to transfer from Spanish reading to English reading (i.e., specific phonics skills and writing mechanics).
  1. The following two Spanish reading programs best matched the findings of the National Reading Panel. These programs are organized thematically which help students acquire language and abstract concepts along with reading skills:
  • Lectura by McGraw-Hill - with these adaptations:

a)Staff training is needed to ensure that the oral language components (“Listen, Talk, Speak, and Respond”) are used effectively and consistently.

b)Elefonetica by Hampton Brown must be added to provide additional practice in the sequence of sounds presented in Lectura.

c)Pan y Canela by Hampton Brown must be added for extra practice after all phonics sounds have been learned to provide fluency practice.

d)Appropriate placement is essential. Students must be placed at the instructional level that matches their reading level so that struggling readers have extra practice reading. For example:

  • A 3rd grader may need to be placed in the 2nd grade text. This may require flexible, well-managed grouping,
  • Students might need more explicit instruction in phonics than is provided in this program. If so, they should be placed in intensive phonics intervention, using the supplemental program Estrellita.

e)Do not use large group strategies where struggling readers listen rather than read the text, as suggested in the Teacher Edition. Struggling readers need more practice in oral reading.

  • Lectura by Scott Foresman- with these adaptations:

a)Staff training is needed to ensure that teachers are able to understand and use all the pieces of the program and the complex teachers’ edition.

b)More practice or supplementing should be done in kindergarten if the materials become too difficult too soon.

c)Elefonetica by Hampton Brown must be added to provide additional practice in the sequence of sounds presented in Lectura.

d)Students might need more explicit instruction in phonics than is provided in this program. If so, they should be placed in intensive phonics intervention, using the supplemental program Estrellita.

  • Success for All by Center for the Education of Students Placed at Risk

a)The panel did not apply the National Reading Panel criteria to SFA because the entire program including all student readers was not available at the time of review. However, SFA has more research data showing the effectiveness of its beginning reading program in Spanish than the other programs so it is included in this menu.

Approved Practices and Materials for Teaching Reading in English to those who are limited in English:

There are schools with students who speak other languages, where teaching reading in their first language (L1) is not feasible. (For example: Staff and materials are not available in multiple languages.) In these situations, when reading is taught in English to children who speak other languages, English oral Language must be developed before and during the teaching of reading in English. (Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children, Snow et al.).

These schools must do two things:

1) Teach students to read using English reading programs recommended by the English Expert Panel for Washington Reads. However, with these reading programs students also need:

  • Increased, intentional and ongoing vocabulary instruction (more than the English reading programs suggest in the Teacher’s editions)
  • More explicit instructional strategies for processing information and reading comprehension than the teachers’ editions provide for English speakers. Teachers who have these students need training in strategies such as ESL techniques and Sheltered English, and teachers need to regularly use such strategies whenever students need help processing information or comprehending what they read.

2) Teach students to speak and understand verbal English using an effective English language development program. Each school should select the best available English language program using the rubric called “Process For Selecting an Effective English Language Development Program” which is provided with this menu. A process for using this rubric is also provided.

Process for Learning Spanish Reading and

Transitioning into Learning English Reading

LEARNING TO READ IN SPANISH
English / Spanish
Oral language development in Spanish (L1)
Oral language development in English (L2) / Teaching reading in Spanish
  • Phonemic Awareness
  • Phonics
  • Passage Reading/Fluency
  • Vocabulary Development
  • Comprehension


TRANSITION FROM SPANISH READING TO ENGLISH READING
Assessment is used to determine that students have sufficient skills in all of these area before they transition to English reading:
  • Spanish reading and writing proficiency
  • English oral language proficiency
  • English vocabulary

LEARNING TO READ IN ENGLISH (L2)
English / Spanish
Begin English reading instruction:
  • Explicitly teach English reading skills that are not found in Spanish reading
  • Use Sheltered English strategies to ensure comprehension of what is read
  • Provide increased, intentional, and on-going English vocabulary instruction
/ In order to maintain maximum cognitive development as reading becomes increasingly complex, it is best to continue Language Arts studies or other content areas in Spanish. This provides ample opportunities for students to use Spanish in independent reading and projects.

Process For Selecting an Effective English Language Development Program